A special event called Women In Audio: Project 2000 at the 1995 AES Convention in New York illuminated quite clearly a problem that exists across society, a problem of too few women engaged in professional work.

The AES is probably no more sexist than other similar organizations and the recording industry is probably no worse than the film industry, the publishing industry or other similar small technical industries. Nonetheless, women constitute only about 10% of the AES membership. A professional audio sales firm near Boston reports that out of 3,000 clients, only 87 are women. In educational programs training recording engineers and producers, less than 10% of the students enrolled are women. Such an imbalance is a clear warning flag that our society has a fundamental dysfunction regarding women. Why does it exist?

The root causes for this imbalance lie outside of the recording industry, of course. Women are the majority of humans, but they certainly don't get anything close to a majority of the income. So, one of the root issues is economic, as in, "No matter what we're talking about, we're talking about money." When women earn as much as men, men will be earning less. When there are as many women in audio as men, there will be fewer men in audio. There will, in fact, be a redistribution of jobs and income, to the deserved benefit of women and at some cost to men. This is hard for us men. We don't have enough jobs or money as it is. To give up some without protest, let alone gladly, is tough to do.

Let the competition be fair, we ask. Don't address discrimination with reverse discrimination. Just level the playing field and let bygones be bygones, right? No hard feelings, eh? Well, as the Women In Audio event made quite clear, discrimination does generate hard feelings and anger. Women would like their equal share and a level playing field. They don't have either of those things and they have to do something about it, because it is in fact their problem. It also became abundantly clear that us men do need to help, both explicitly when we are called upon, and implicitly in our personal and professional conduct.

The event explored these issues in a constructive, positive and quite moving way. Panelists spoke of the realities of professional life for women today, and of the realities of girls' adolescence in a boys' world. At the same time, Project 2000 was proposed as an initiative by the AES to increase the professional involvement of women in the Society and in audio, as well as outreach to young girls to let them know that our profession is a viable one for them. At the same time, the Project calls for active networking by women to develop their own support systems and to integrate their efforts with those of the Society at large.